In our days, the position of women has changed substantially, developing very successfully in different professions. It couldn't be architecture exception, and, in the exercise of this profession, with much talent, women lead important projects and excel despite the fact that in a good part of the world there are still many gender inequalities.
For many centuries architecture was conceived and made by men. But, at the beginning of the 20th century, with effort and tenacity, some women began to demonstrate that architecture was not a discipline solely relegated to the masculine world.
Sometimes it is difficult to understand the situation of the architects in the profession, and, as a prologue and For your interest, first we want to leave the short documentary “ARCHITECTS” showing the different situations experienced by women who are dedicated to field of architecture .
Ten female architects give their testimony and their opinion about the feminine condition and how they develop professionally in the field of architecture…
So that there is no doubt about the hard work they have done to over the years. We present a list of important female architects of the history that were not fairly valued in their moment. And at the end of the article, some data that we have surprised and continue to highlight a difference of important genre within the profession…
Content menu:
Born in 1876 in Ireland into a family aristocratic, she enjoyed very little recognition in her long life 98 years old. Over time it has been recognized as one of the great architects of history and for his furniture designs. In his talent the best trends of his time, such as art deco and the ideals of modernism.
Just because she was a woman, it was difficult for her make their way in a world in which men prevailed, particularly in his profession. Despite this, managed to act independently without it being necessary for belonged to any association or any group of artists of your time.
The above sentence is reviewed in this Guardian article. His experience and talent in interiors crystallized in the famous holiday house E-1027, in the south of France, which won him, along with the design for the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1923, the recognition of Le Corbusier. Currently you have been done justice to his talent and creativity, and he is qualified like the great artist she was.
Impossible to say so much in just a few words this genial architect, urban planner, writer and Zambian-born American teacher , formerly Rhodesia, in 1931. Although his contributions in the field of architecture have been many in works and in the formation of thousands of architects around the world, he is recognized for his urban proposals, historically it has always been "the invisible architect.”
The Guardian newspaper portrays her perfectly in her interesting article with the title "Snubbed, Deceived, erased: the scandal of the invisible women of the architecture «.
In fact, his studies and works were so important that the last year a documentary “City Dreamers” was released that underlines the city in constant change through life and work of 4 architects who rethought the environment urban .
His teaching work has been first class. order in the most prestigious universities of his country, such as Yale, Harvard, UCLA and Berkeley . As a case Important to note, in 1991 he was awarded the Pritzker Prize his partner Robert Venturi, and was deliberately excluded from even though it was a joint effort. venturi expressed his discontent and protest, not attending the act of awards ceremony.
The list of his representative works is very extensive in various cities in the United States and, albeit belatedly, has been the subject of numerous recognitions and distinctions, highlighting the Jane Drew award (Award that recognizes a trajectory that has contributed to the status of the women in architecture )
Without a doubt one of the important women of the architecture for its extraordinary contributions and creations in interior design, such as the famous and acclaimed Bar under the chrome steel roof and aluminum, which was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1927. And that was just the beginning in its 96 years of existence. He was born in Paris in 1903 and died in 1999, in the same city.
His participation in Le Corbusier's workshop is seen reflected in the furniture that he designed with him and Pierre Jeanneret . His imprint and his seal are enduring particularly in the design of artistic and modern furniture, among which highlights the furniture he produced based on the traditional technique of elaboration with bamboo.
Your most outstanding distinguishing feature in the whole field of his creations is his sense of innovation within of rationalism.
To her are works as representative as the internal conditioning of the University City of Paris and three of the best chair designs, such as the Comfort LC2 Grand, the B301 and the B306 .
The Italian-Brazilian Lina Bo Bardi, born in Rome in 1914, is another architect woman famous of the 20th century. After completing their studies at the School of Architecture of the University of Roma moved to Milan, where she excelled as an editor from the famous magazine Quaderni di Domus.
Casa do Vidro in the São Paulo neighborhood of Morumbi. what today we see as a prototypical residential project of the Latin American wealthy classes, was at the time, an idea revolutionary.
The architect Lina Bo Bardi , in 1946, moved to Brazil, a country where after five years of residence became a naturalized citizen. There she founded and directed the Sao Paulo Assis Chateaubriand Museum of Art, in which stood out for achieving the confluence between popular tradition and aesthetic avant-garde.
Her extensive work established her as an architect with designs as emblematic as his private residence known as the Glass House in Sao Paulo and the new headquarters of the Sao Museum of Art Paul. In addition to architectural design, Lina Bo Bardi, at passing away in 1992, left a legacy that includes exceptional graphic designs and furniture designs , product of his varied and extensive creative talents and innovative.
There is an interesting article in ElPaís that highlights his work architecture and the wonderful tropical world of Lina Bo Bardy.
From an American father and a Chilean mother, this extraordinary architect was born in Santiago de Chile, on October 17, 1869. Although she was the first woman to receive her architecture degree from MIT in 1890 (Considered one of the first American female architects ), the title obtained in nothing guaranteed him any job.
The following short film “Women with a history of MIT» is a series of historical profiles of 60 seconds of the faculty, students, researchers and MIT staff highlighting the role of women in the Institute from its foundation to today.
Although it was awarded by MIT, after a search unsuccessful employment as an architect, she had to resign herself to a position as a professor of technical drawing in an institute of Boston High School.
The following year, in 1891, he learned from an advertisement for a contest that was organized in Chicago for the design of a pavilion dedicated to women as part of the World's Columbian Exposition . And based on his own degree thesis, architect Sophia Hayden presented a proposal that consisted of a building in the style three-story renaissance.
Won first prize out of 13 participants, at the age of 21 years . Tough to the significance and success of that exhibition, its design received much adverse criticism, and by him, unfairly he only got $1,000 . That unpleasant experience, and the many pressures she was subjected to, made her give up architecture and never designed another building. He died on February 3, 1953.
This versatile woman, born in England in 1911, She also stood out as an urban planner, academic, author and editor, and had an undeniable role in all the processes and activities in which he participated.
The architect Drew came across a problem when embarking on his professional path, because in the years thirty, when Drew began his architectural career, the Industry was dominated by men. Many of the companies it was applied to didn't even consider hire her based on her gender . Later, when she founded her own company, at first he was concerned with employing women only , trying to put an end to the discrimination that she herself had suffered.
His friendship with famous artists of his time, such as Elizabeth Lutyens, Le Corbusier, Henry Moore and Maxwell Fry , was very fruitful. With the latter she contracted her second marriage and founded a society that specialized in large-scale projects for tropical countries.
She was a collaborator and co-author of multiple projects relevant to modern architecture in England, India, Ghana and Nigeria. She was the first female architect in to be part of the Council of the Royal Institute of Architects British (RIBA) .
Like Mildred Dresselhaus, who was the first woman MIT tenured professor, the first individual winner of the Kavli Award and the first woman to win the National Medal of the Engineering. Both of them, colleagues, worked tirelessly to promote gender equality in science, engineering and architecture .
The famous architect , two years after her death in 1996 the prestigious Jane Award was instituted Drew Prize in recognition of his architectural works diverse, influential and innovative.
The American architect Marian Lucy Mahony , born in 1871, in addition to being the second woman to receive her degree in architecture at the MIT , should have figured on its own merits in the history of modern urbanism. But it was only at the centenary of the city of Canberra, that his name and his work will be recognize such merits on equal terms as their husband, Walter Burley Griffin, with whom he designed that city, capital of Australia, in 1912.
The influence of his work and that of Griffin, whom he met when he worked in Frank Lloyd's studio Wright in Oak Park. The couple shared the idea that in a modern civilization each person had to live in houses that were in tune with the nature .
Mahony's drawings, created in ink, formed a large part of what became known as the Wasmuth Portfolio, a compendium of designs by Frank Lloyd Wright published in Germany in 1910 and of undoubted quality as recognized in the New York Times.
Unfortunately, historians of the architecture was pushed aside because of its status as woman when mention was made of the project of Canberra, but it is undeniable that his participation was fundamental and is noticeable before the project drawings.
After living in Australia with her husband, where they devoted themselves to supervising their project, they moved to India and they continued their work together. Griffin died in 1937 and the architect Marion Lucy Mahony no longer wanted work in the sector. He passed away many years later, in 1961.
Fortunately for her, she belonged to a generation of women of the enlightened Spanish bourgeoisie who were educated in a liberal, artistic and professional environment, with access to universities in the early decades of the last century. The architect Matilde Ucelay always said... «The women, if they do not have economic independence, they do not have freedom»
Despite the hostility of the Francoist environment, and difference from other women of her generation, he practiced architecture in Spain with enough character, intelligence and dedication, as to assume responsibilities until he retired in 1981.
The career of Matilde Ucelay is a reference exemplary for subsequent generations to this day and of which his house designs are valuable testimonials houses, factories, warehouses, shops and laboratories. She passed away in 2008, but not before being recognized in 2004 with the National Architecture Award .
If you want to learn more about his professional career, at this article on «The first Spanish woman architect of the history» recognizes his life and work.
He was born in 1920, in China. He studied at the prestigious Radcliffe College, where he graduated, in 1942, in Fine Arts. Later he studied Architecture with Marcel Breuer, Catherine Bauer, and Walter Gropius, at Harvard . From 1945 he worked in Oscar Stonorov's studio and Louis Kahn, where he came to develop housing projects and of urbanism.
She has been described as a geometry expert for his deep knowledge and design of forms , such as in the renowned City Tower, in Philadelphia, whose model was included in 1960 in the Museum of Modern Art of that city, without that at first his authorship was recognized (It is commented that Kahn "forgot" to register her name on the identity card. credits).
Another of the works where he participated leaving his printing press together to Louis Kahn is the design of the Eserhick House (1956), the Salk Institute (1959-55) and in the Erdman Room of Bryn College Mawr (1960-65).
His contribution to architecture was not just as designer of relevant works, since it was much what he contributed with his research on patterns geometric shapes and as the author of books such as
His long and productive career in various fields of knowledge and creation were the subject of important recognitions, especially in the United States.
She is considered the first black woman pioneer in architecture (born 1926 in Harlem, New York) worked behind the scenes on some of the projects America's largest architectural It was also the first African American woman elected as a member of the prestigious American Institute of Architects (FAIA).
After receiving her architectural degree, Norma Merrick did not he was able to find work in an architectural firm. After of being rejected by dozens of law firms architecture , took a job in the Department of New York Public Works.
From 1960 to 1980 he used both his experience architecture as your project management skills to carry out many multimillion-dollar projects of the great Gruen company, becoming the first woman director of the company in 1966.
As a production manager, Skarek had immense responsibilities, but was rarely recognized in the project finished. Only the United States Embassy in Japan has recognized Sklarek's contributions – the website of the Embassy declared that "The building was designed by César Pelli and Norma Merrick Sklarek of Gruen Associates of Los Angeles and built by the Obayashi Corporation", so simple and as practical as Sklarek itself.
Among the most emblematic buildings is the Pacific Design Center, which was designed together with the Argentine architect César Pelli opening its doors in 1975.
A project has been launched from the Sky-Frame platform Directed by Boris Noir. The documentary "Women in Architecture" (Women in architecture).
A film that delves into showing us the role of women in architecture and how a better built environment is also a more inclusive environment or why diversity is necessary in the architectural field through the hand of three women in his personal and professional life.
According to the latest survey published by the Superior Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain, it is revealed differentiated working conditions if the architects are they men or women .
With 62.1%, the percentage of architects who is self-employed is eleven points less than the Men's. In other words, almost eight points less than the average. In On the other hand, there are more architects working for others: 20.9%, compared to 11.1% of salaried architects, which It is almost seven points above the average.
Also, there is a differentiated perception of the advances in terms of equality. While 51.9% of the professionals surveyed consider that considerable progress has been made in the last decade , this percentage drops to 45.2% in the case of them. For 74.2% there are inequalities gender issues in professional development , but only 13.9% think they are specific to the sector.
In professional activity we continue to see that traditional canons and assigned roles in daily work continue to persist, although it is considered that progress has been made quite.
If we look at the gold medal of architecture, the famous Pritzker . We soon realize that the visibility of women in architecture has been far from being a reality. The first Pritzker medal awarded to a woman went to Zaha Hadid (2004) and, this year, for the second time in his history, to the female architecture studio of Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara. And that prizes are awarded from 1979.
There are so many modern female architects who they deserve great awards because the list is huge: Tatiana Bilbao , Jeane Gang , Alison Brooks , Nathalie de Vries , Odile Decq , Amanda Levete , Anna Heringer , etc (See list of architects in the world HERE)
We realized at the time we were writing this article that the presence of the woman architect on the net is very poor. In this case, and As an example, we look at Wikipedia and, although it claims to do automatic translations to expand the information in different languages, practically the architects Spanish women do not exist in the Anglo-Saxon world .
When searching for “Spanish women architects” the First result is from Wikipedia. Upon entering, the result is surprising: there are only 14 architects, a disappointment! when there is a specific page in Spanish with 62 names.
Although it is evident that we have left in the inkwell a lot of information and great teachers of the architecture . In this article we only wanted recall the memory of so many women architects s who were our neighbors and who paved the way for new generations in a world ruled by men.
If you liked the article, rate it and share!
